Al-Shabab claims deadly Mogadishu blast

A bomb blast outside a government compound in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, has killed at least 70 people and left many others wounded, in one of the country's deadliest ever suicide attacks, officials and witnesses said.Al-Shabab, the armed anti-government group, claimed Tuesday's blast, which came as the rebels launched attacks in the country's west and south.
An al-Shabab official who spoke to the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity said one of the group's fighters had carried out the attack.
"One of our mujahideen made the sacrifice to kill TFG [Transitional Federal Government] officials, the African Union troops and other informers who were in the compound," said the al-Shabab official.
The blast occurred when a truck blew up after coming to a halt at a security checkpoint at the entrance to the Ministry of Education, said Ali Hussein, a police officer in the Somali capital. After the thunderous blast, blackened corpses were sprawled on the debris-strewn street amid burning vehicles and uniformed soldiers dragged the wounded from the scene.
Mohamed Sheikh Nor, a Somali journalist, told Al Jazeera that several "ministers were coming out of the building just seconds after the explosion"Al-Shabab claims deadly Mogadishu blast - Africa - Al Jazeera English